Thursday Morning Moto News - Dakar and More...

Some interesting Rally Dakar news as Aprilia mounted Francisco Lopez Contardo (and the various authors change his name around constantly) wins a stage during the fifth day. This is huge as it brings Lopez into second place overall for now. Frenchman David Casteu crashed hard and is now out of the race due to tearing a muscle. For more information, take the following links - there are plenty.

http://tinyurl.com/yforzzj

http://tinyurl.com/yl5z6kj

In some very good news from Asia, we hear that the Sepang International Circuit has reached an agreement with Dorna to hold the Malaysian Grand Prix until 2015. That will help many Malaysian wildcard riders get a better chance of making it to the series full-time. Plus, the area around the track will enjoy the economic shot in the arm that the MotoGP Championship brings with them.

http://tinyurl.com/yfux2cu

In the World Superbike Championship, Ducati's factory team has made some personnel changes. Of course, you already know about the team manager moving over to BMW (Tardozzi). Well, now the whole team organization has changed in order to replace him and move other personnel into key positions. For a comprehensive guide to the new arrangement, take the link and have a read.

http://tinyurl.com/yzjmz75